mummer

[muhm-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mummer ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who wears a mask or fantastic costume while merrymaking or taking part in a pantomime, especially at Christmas and other festive seasons.

an actor, especially a pantomimist.

Origin of mummer

First recorded in 1400–50, mummer is from the late Middle English word mommer. See mum², -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mummer

mime, fool, jester, buffoon, comedian, comic, prankster, thespian, impersonator, copycat, parrot, actor, player, imitator, performer, parodist, mummer, trouper, caricaturist, impressionist

Examples from the Web for mummer

Historical Examples of mummer

He had at hand a surer ladder to fame than the mummer's art.
The Man Shakespeare
Frank Harris
They ought at least, to give us a moorish dance, or some other mummer!
Notre-Dame de Paris
Victor Hugo
But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
A steamer was bearing my lady-love into the presence of her mummer.
The Confession of a Fool
August Strindberg
He was so much bigger than Mummer that it was hard to believe that they were own cousins.
The Burgess Bird Book for Children
Thornton W. Burgess

British Dictionary definitions for mummer

mummer

noun

one of a group of masked performers in folk play or mime

a mime artist

jocular, or derogatory an actor

Word Origin for mummer

C15: from Old French momeur, from momer to mime; related to momon mask

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mummer

"one who performs in a mumming, actor in a dumb show," early 15c., probably a fusion of Middle French momeur "mummer" (from Old French momer "mask oneself," from momon "mask") and Middle English mommen "to mutter, be silent," related to mum (interjection).